Commentary: On the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Beẓah

Rashi’s Hebrew commentary on the Babylonian Talmud was highly influential. It is known for the many brief explanatory phrases that enable a student to understand the flow of talmudic dialectic, as well as the occasional integration of the passage at hand with parallel or related discussions. This excerpt discusses the mishnaic ruling that permits a Jew to benefit from wild animals that a non-Jew brought to him on a festival, when a Jew may not capture them himself: “On a festival, one may not remove animals, birds, or fish from traps that were set on the eve of the festival. [But] there was an incident where a non-Jew brought fish to R. Gamaliel, and he said that they were permitted” (m. Beẓah 3:2). The Talmud then presents two views. According to one, the animal can be accepted; according to the other, it may even be eaten. Rashi explicates the unclear statements in this text, gently guiding the reader through it. He also deploys several words from Old French, as is typical of his commentary, and, somewhat atypically, offers a halakhic ruling as well. The term muktseh means “set aside”—that is, it may not be moved on a Sabbath or during a festival.